Fluent in Four Languages: 2011

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

#50: It's three o'clock

FRANCAIS
ee lay TWAH seh        ll est trois heures

ITALIANO
SONE oh lay tray       Sono le tre

ESPANOL
SONE las trays            Son las tres

___________________________________

Monday, October 31, 2011

FRANCAIS
ee lay DOO suv                 ll est deux heures

ITALIANO
SONE uh lay DOO ay          Sono le due

ESPANOL
SONE as DOSE                   Son las dos

______________________________________

Thursday, October 20, 2011

#48: It is one o'clock

FRANCAIS
il ih teh NEH            il est une heure

ITALIANO
ee lune uh               e l'una

ESPANOL
es lah una               es la una

________________________________

Thursday, October 13, 2011

#47: What time is it?

FRANCAIS
keh LEH rih til                Quelle heure est-il?

ITALIANO
kay or ay so no             Che ore sono?

ESPANOL
kay or uh ays                Que hora es?

_____________________________________

#46:I am from ______

FRANCAIS
zhuh vyen de                Je viens de _____

ITALIANO
soh noh dee                   Sono di _____

ESPANOL
soy day                         Soy de _____

________________________________________

Monday, October 10, 2011

#45: Where are you from?

FRANCAIS
doo ven ee voo                       D'ou venez-vous?

ITALIANO
lay, dee doe veh                     Lei, di dov'e?

ESPANOL
de DON day es oo STED      De donde es usted?

________________________________________

Thursday, October 6, 2011

#44 My name is ______

FRENCH
zhuh muh pel                Je m'appelle ______

ITALIAN
me kee AH moe            Mi chiamo ______

SPANISH
may YAH ma                 Me llamo ______

________________________________________

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

#43: Of course

FRENCH
byeh syuh             bien sur

ITALIAN
CHAIR toh             certo

SPANISH
CLAIR oh                claro

___________________________________

Monday, September 5, 2011

#42: It's nice to meet you too.

FRENCH
ah shawn TAY                 Enchante
Google Translate doesn't pronounce the "TAY," but we will.

ITALIAN
pee uh CHAIR ay, MEE oh      Piacere mio

SPANISH
el GOO stow, es MEE oh       El gusto es mio

________________________________________

Thursday, September 1, 2011

#41: French, Italian, Spanish

FRENCH
frahn say                    Francais
(Google Translate does not pronounce the "say," but we will.)

ITALIAN
ih tahl ee AWN oh         Italiano

SPANISH
eh span YOL               Espanol

_______________________________________

Saturday, August 27, 2011

#40: It's nice to meet you

FRENCH
ah shawn TAY                            Enchante

(Google Translate doesn't pronounce the "TAY," but we will)

ITALIAN
TAN toe  pia CHAIR ay                Tanto piacere

SPANISH
MOO choe    GOO stoe                    Mucho gusto

_______________________________________________

Monday, August 15, 2011

#39: Random language tip alert

FRENCH
Only the last syllable of a French word is to be stressed.

ITALIAN
Most Italian words end in a vowel. Masculine words end in "o," feminine words end in "a."

SPANISH
The word for "the" is used much more often in Spanish than it is used in English. When referring to a masculine word, use "el." When referring to a feminine word, use "la." The plural form of "el" is "los," and the plural form of "la" is "las."

_____________________________________

Friday, August 12, 2011

#38: time for a language tip

FRENCH
Unlike English, all French nouns have a gender -- either masculine or feminine.

ITALIAN
The Italian "I" is not capitalized as it is in English, unless it begins a sentence. It is written as io, pronounced EE oh.

SPANISH
está That little thing over the "a" is an accent mark. In Spanish, they tell us which vowels to stress.

________________________________________________

Thursday, August 11, 2011

#37: twenty-four

FRENCH
ven tuh KAT hh          vingt a quatre

ITALIAN
VEN tee QUAH troe      ventiquattro

SPANISH
BANE tee QUAH troe     veinticuatro

___________________________________

___________________________

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

#36: twenty-three

FRENCH
veh twah                     vingt-trois

ITALIAN
VEN tee tray               ventitre

SPANISH
BANE tree tress          veintitres

______________________________

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

#35: twenty-two

FRENCH
VA te deh                  vingt-deux

ITALIAN
ven tih doo wuh                ventidue

SPANISH
BEN tee THOS                veintidos

_______________________________

Thursday, August 4, 2011

#34: twenty-one

FRENCH
va yune                   vingt-et-un


ITALIAN
VENT oo no             ventuno

SPANISH
bane tee OWN       veintiun

__________________________________

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

#33: twenty

FRENCH
eh VAUH                vingt

ITALIAN
VEN tee                  vente

SPANISH
BANE tee                veinte

_______________________________

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

#32: nineteen

FRENCH
deez nef                       dix-neuf

ITALIAN
DEE cha NOVE ay        diciannove

SPANISH
DEE eh seen WEB ay     diecinueve

________________________

Monday, August 1, 2011

#31: eighteen

FRENCH
deez weet                            dix-huit

ITALIAN
dee CHAW toe                   diciotto

SPANISH
DEE uh the AHW choe     dieciocho

_____________________________

Friday, July 29, 2011

#30: seventeen

FRENCH
dee set                         dix-sept

ITALIAN
DEE cheh SEH teh         diciassette


SPANISH
dee UH thee SYEH tee   diecisiete

_________________________

Thursday, July 28, 2011

#29: sixteen

FRENCH
sez                               seize

ITALIAN
SEE dee chee                sedici

SPANISH
dee UTH ee SASE           dieciseis

_________________________

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

#28: fifteen

FRENCH
kenz                        quinze

ITALIAN
QUEEN dih chee      quindici

SPANISH
GIN the                    quince

_______________________

Monday, July 25, 2011

#27: Fourteen

FRENCH
keh tohls                      quatorze


ITALIAN
quah tor DIH chee      quattordici

SPANISH
ca TOR see                   catorce

________________________________________

Friday, July 22, 2011

#26: thirteen

FRENCH
trays                         treize

ITALIAN
TRAY di chee            tredici

SPANISH
TREH see                trece

_______________________________

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

#25: twelve

FRENCH
DOO iz                  douze

ITALIAN
DOH di chee          dodici

SPANISH
DOH see                doce

_______________________________

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

#24: eleven

FRENCH
uhnz                     onze

ITALIAN
OON dih chee        undici

SPANISH
UN see                   once

_______________________________

Monday, July 18, 2011

#23: zero

FRENCH
ZIH ho                        zero

ITALIAN
ZAY roh                     zero

SPANISH
SAY doh                    cero

_____________________________

Friday, July 15, 2011

#22: one

FRENCH
euh                               un

ITALIAN
OO no                          uno

SPANISH
OO no                         uno

____________________________

Thursday, July 14, 2011

#21: two

FRENCH
du                                 deux

ITALIAN
DOO eh                          due

SPANISH
dose                              dos

______________________________

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

#20: three

FRENCH
twah                             trois

ITALIAN
tray                             tre

SPANISH
tres                               tres

______________________________

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

#19: four

FRENCH
CAThh                  quatre

ITALIAN
QUAH troh             quattro

SPANISH
QUAH troh            cuatro

_____________________________________

Monday, July 11, 2011

#18: five

FRENCH
sunk                         cinq

ITALIAN
SEEN queh              cinque

SPANISH
SEEN coh                 cinco

_________________________________

Friday, July 8, 2011

#17: six

FRENCH
sees                               six

ITALIAN
say                                sei

SPANISH
sais                               seis

_____________________________________

Thursday, July 7, 2011

#16: seven

FRENCH
set                              sept

ITALIAN
SEH teh                    sette

SPANISH
syih tee                    siete

_______________________________

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

#15: eight

FRENCH
weet                             huit

ITALIAN
AHW toe                     otto

SPANISH
AHW choe                  ocho

________________________________________

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

#14: nine

FRENCH
nef                              neuf

ITALIAN
NO vay                       nove

SPANISH
NWEH beh                    nueve

__________________________________

Friday, July 1, 2011

#13: ten

FRENCH
dees                               dix

ITALIAN
dee ah chee                  dieci

SPANISH
DEE es                          diez

___________________________________

Thursday, June 30, 2011

#12: Fine, thanks.

FRENCH
be AH, myehr SEE                       Bien, merci.

ITALIAN
BEN eh, guh RAHT see yuh          Bene, grazie.

SPANISH
be in, GRAH see us                    Bien, gracias.

_________________________________________

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

#11: How's it going?

FRENCH
cum uh sih vah                             Comment ca va ?

ITALIAN
cum ee vah                                    Come va ?

SPANISH
kih TAL                                           Que tal ?

__________________________________________

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

#10: Goodbye!

FRENCH
oh reh VWAH                                    Au revoir!

ITALIAN
ah ree vuh DARE chee                     Arrivederci!

SPANISH
ah dee OHS                                          Adios!

__________________________________________

Monday, June 27, 2011

#9: Please

FRENCH
sil voo play                  s'il vous plait

ITALIAN
per fuh VOR da              per favore

SPANISH
POR fa VOR                    por favor

________________________________

Friday, June 24, 2011

#8: How are you?

FRENCH
cuh mah lee voo             Comment allez-vous ?

ITALIAN
cuhmuh stah ee                  Come stai ?

SPANISH
coh moh eh STAS                 Como estas ?

_________________________________

Thursday, June 23, 2011

#7: Excuse me

FRENCH
EX cuse em wah                    Excuse-moi

ITALIAN
me, SCOO see                           Mi scusi

SPANISH
dis cool puh                              Disculpe

___________________________________

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

#6: Good night

FRENCH
bon wee                               bonne nuit

ITALIAN
bwone uh NO tuh                buonanotte

SPANISH
BWANE us NO ches             buenas noches

___________________________________

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

#5: Hello

FRENCH
sa LUE                            Salut

ITALIAN
chow                                Ciao

SPANISH
OH la                               Hola

____________________________

Monday, June 20, 2011

#4: You're welcome

FRENCH
DUH ree ah                      De rien

ITALIAN
pray go                           Prego

SPANISH
de NAH duh                     De nada

___________________________

Friday, June 17, 2011

#3: Thanks

FRENCH
myehr SEE                    merci

ITALIAN
guh RAHT see yuh       grazie

SPANISH
GRAH see us               gracias

________________________

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Lesson #2: Good morning

FRENCH
boh zhure                                           bonjour

ITALIAN
bwon JER no (trill the 'r' if you can)      buongiorno

SPANISH
BWANE us DEE us                                buenos dias

____________________________________________

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Lesson #1: Welcome

FRENCH

BYEV new                                                          Bienvenue

ITALIAN
ben beh NEW toh                                                Benvenuto

SPANISH
bee en beh NEE doh      (welcome to a male)        Bienvenido
bee en beh NEE da        (welcome to a female)     Bienvenida

___________________________________________________

What's So Special About Fluent in Four Languages?

It's easier than you think

All three of these languages are based on the Latin alphabet. So there are no strange letters or symbols to know or pronounce. What's more, you will learn at least 100 words in each language before you are expected to put those words together in sentences. Kids don't start speaking full sentences when they learn to speak, so why should we? So when we do begin to speak sentences, our brains can focus on how the words are arranged, and not on the words themselves -- because we'll already know them.

It's not frustrating

Most language courses fall short in the pronunciation department. But Fluent in Four Languages uses the pronounciation-first technique in language acquisition. So before you even see the actual word, you already know how it's pronounced. What's more, I provide a Google Translator link for every new word, so you can hear the pronunciation too.

It's exciting

Most people give up learning a second language not from lack of intellect, but from lack of motivation. But with Fluent in Four Languages, your goal is to be, well, fluent in four languages! That's pretty damn motivating.

Wouldn't it be great to be fluent in that many languages? Even if you were only casually fluent in four languages, that would still be an incredibly useful ability -- and a fairly impressive one at that.

How to Use This Language Course

Tip #1
Read the pronunciation word to the far left first, then click on the actual word to the right. Listen to the Google translator a few times. Now, spend some time writing down the actual word as you sound out the pronunciation. Once you have the pronunciation fixed in your long-term memory, do not go back to the pronunciation word on the left ever again. It's only meant to be used on the initial encounters with new words, to help you pronounce them.

Tip #2
Whenever I point out that an 'r' is to be trilled, trill it if you can. If that's too difficult for you -- as it often is for me -- then don't. There's no shame in speaking a foreign language in a heavy American accent. Don't let something as trivial as a trilled 'r' destroy your motivation to learn any of these languages.

Also, you will find that some French words are difficult to pronounce perfectly. Take for example the word "Beinvenue" in lesson #1. Note that my corresponding pronunciation word is "BYEV new". Now click on the actual word to listen to the Google Translator. It sounds pretty much like "BYEV new" -- doesn't it? But here's the thing: Some French instructors would cringe at this pronunciation and insist that it be pronounced in perfect French. But that's the kind of requirement that sucks the fun right out of learning new languages. So instead, we'll do things the easy way and pronounce words using our English accents. Again, remember, an English accent is something to be proud of.

Tip #3
The first 100 lessons move at a nice slow pace -- one word per day in each of three languages. Thereafter, we will pick up the pace to two words per day. But should you ever find yourself falling behind, don't worry. This isn't a race.

Tip #4
Each time you learn a new lesson, go back and review the previous lessons that have yet to sink in. But again, try to avoiding looking at the pronunciation words to the left.

Tip #5
If you catch a mistake I've made, please chime in by leaving a note in the comments section. This course is like Wikipedia, in that anyone can contribute to the final product.